Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at a reception celebrating the 20th anniversary of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong today (November 20):

Good evening. It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the CUHK.

As part of CUHK's highly acclaimed Business School, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management has leveraged the resourceful support of the Business School and developed itself into a renowned institution in the tourism industry, offering well integrated programmes with tourism, hospitality and business elements. Since its establishment in 1998, the School has nurtured a strong team of talents for the tourism sector in Hong Kong that helps the city maintain its competitiveness with other tourist destinations. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the great work done by the President, the Dean, the School Director, the Faculty, both past and present, and of course the graduates and students who contributed to the success of the School.

Tourism is one of Hong Kong's pillar industries, contributing nearly 5 per cent to our GDP and employing some 260 000 persons in our economy. It provides impetus to the growth of Hong Kong's economy and creates abundant opportunities for different sectors such as hotel, retail and catering service. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the trade and the Government, Hong Kong's tourism has sustained strong growth momentum in 2018. Visitor arrivals rose by 9.5 per cent in the first nine months of the year, and the relatively higher-spending overnight visitors also increased by 5 per cent year-on-year.

The best is yet to come. There will be ample opportunities brought by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with its collective population of over 69 million. In addition, the commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link have also slashed travelling time between Hong Kong and Guangdong, as well as Macao, facilitating visitors to make multi-destination journeys to experience our diversified tourism offerings.

Ladies and gentlemen, we all know that tourism is an ever-changing industry with new products or ideas being the key to maintaining our attractiveness as a top destination. The Government will continue to work together with the trade and the School to develop more new elements and provide quality service to our visitors. On this, I will count on the School's continued efforts and all your creativity, resourcefulness and enthusiasm.

Once again, my heartfelt congratulations to the School on its 20th anniversary, and I wish it all the best in the many years to come. I also wish you all a very enjoyable evening.